Gürün

History

The settlement identified as Tergarma by the Assyrians on the eastern border of Tabal, and as Togarmah in the Book of Genesis, is associated with modern-day Gürün. Rock-cut caves located within the Şuğul quarter of Gürün, together with the Hieroglyphic Luwian inscriptions in the Şuğul Canyon, indicate that these structures likely date to the Hittite period in the 2nd millennium BCE. During the reign of Šuppiluliuma I (c. 1344–1322 BCE), the Hittites captured the city of Tegarama during campaigns against the Hurrians to the east; several scholars likewise identify this city with Gürün. Under Shalmaneser III (859–824 BCE), the Assyrians seized Tilgarimmu, located at the eastern frontier of Tabal. Owing to its position along valley routes, the settlement held strategic significance as a corridor between Tabal and regions further east, and the presence of iron deposits further enhanced its importance in antiquity. In Classical Antiquity, the settlement appears under the name Gauraina. Under the Achaemenid Empire, it formed part of the satrapy of Cappadocia and was captured by the Macedonian Kingdom in the 330s BCE. Shortly thereafter, it became part of the Kingdom of Cappadocia, founded by former Achaemenid satraps. During this period (c. 320 BCE – 17 CE), it belonged to the territory of Sargaurasene, administered by a stratēgos. The region was briefly taken by the Kingdom of Armenia during the early reign of Tigranes II, but Roman forces under Lucius Cornelius Sulla defeated the Armenians and restored the area to the Cappadocian client kingdom. Although it continued to change hands between Armenia and Cappadocia, the Roman victory at the Battle of Tigranocerta (69 BCE) secured its permanent attachment to Cappadocia. Following the Roman annexation of the Cappadocian…